Moss, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound wide receiver, has legitimate Division I speed, rare at West Point. He ran on Army Prep's record-breaking 400-meter relay team at the Penn Relays this spring.

"I'll put Xavier up against any corner in the nation at this point," Jenkins said. "He's fast, a great route-runner and he has great hands. He was willing to push himself and push me to get better every day. We kept working and it's paying off right now."

The future is now for Army's touted freshmen.

Jenkins has been running with Army's starters since early in training camp. Moss has impressed in his work with the first-team offense.

"My goal was to start, compete and play hard," said Jenkins, who played his high school football at national power De La Salle in Concord, Calif. "I just wanted to do everything to get on the field. Hopefully, I can keep it. Keep my spot and keep it going."

"I definitely want to get into the action and help the team as much as I can," said Moss, who is from Houston.

Moss has shown flashes of beating double coverage deep for long touchdowns and toughness when catching short balls in traffic.

He's also a fearless blocker, a big responsibility for receivers in Army's triple-option offense.

"I've coached a lot of good receivers here, but I would say at the same point in time, Xavier is as good as anybody we have ever had," said Tucker Waugh, who is in his second stint as Army's wide receivers coach. "He's got a lot of work to do before all of the skills are in place to really be dynamic, but he's got a great work ethic. He is a great kid and the sky's the limit for him."

Army fifth-year coach Rich Ellerson has been searching for a complete cornerback like Jenkins. Jenkins doesn't give wide receivers an inch, is a sure tackler and a playmaker. He picked off two straight passes during one practice session.

"If you would have brought them in three years ago or 10 years ago, it was going to be hard to keep those two guys off the field," Ellerson said. "They are pretty gifted."

Moss split wide left and ran a corner route to the end zone. Jenkins cut him off, stopping Moss' momentum and forcing an incompletion.

Jenkins won that fight. Four more years of battles are on the horizon.